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WWE Summerslam 2019: Five Thoughts w/Justin C

I ran out of time, but I had a column I was trying to plan for this weekend about Seth Rollins. In my mind, tonight was make it or break it for Seth Rollins. He has not been booked well the last few weeks. A couple months ago, he had an edge to him. The fans were really starting to get behind him. Then the Becky Lynch stuff started and it killed his momentum. I HATED his promo on RAW last week. And it seemed like the fans were starting to grow tired of him too as evidence by the boos he was getting tonight. But guess what? The Universal Title match was laid out perfectly and by the end of it Rollins won over the Toronto crowd. Rollins delivered in a big spot and beat Lesnar clean. Hopefully that is the end of Lesnar in the Title picture. And hopefully this is the start of a rejuvenation of sorts for the career of Seth Rollins.

2. Yowie Wowie Indeed

The Bray Wyatt presentation was as perfect as you could have asked for. From the video package recapping him, to the entrance, and even the match. Everything was laid out perfectly. I loved the mix of metal with his old theme song. And the lantern with Bray’s old face on it was a great touch. It looked creepy too. I was at a party with some friends who don’t watch as often as I do and they were glued to the TV when Bray came out. Now, they have to make sure they keep the presentation right going forward. You can’t do this type of stuff with Bray every week. And I’m normally against this, but I wouldn’t have him wrestle on RAW for a bit. Make this a PPV special and run with it from there. But Bray Wyatt is easily the most interesting the WWE has going right now.

3. Somehow Kofi Kingston Was In The Worst Match On The Show

Yeah, you read that right. The Kofi Kingston/Randy Orton match was the worst match on the show. And it is a damn shame because it was the best built match going into the show. Orton and Kofi didn’t interact too much during the build up to the show. But their promos and vignettes leading up to it were great. Then they went with the cop out double countout finish which the entire crowd completely shit on. And then Kofi beats the crap out of Orton after the match and stands tall like he won anyways. Why bother with that finish? It is a lazy way to extend the program that was hot going into it. Now they have to find a way to keep the momentum going for the next month to Clash of the Champions in September.

4. All Three Women’s Matches Deliver

From an in ring perspective I thought all three women’s matches tonight were very good. And as I talked about on the HTCWrestling Podcast, I thought they all played out how I thought they would. The Becky/Natalya match was the best of the three and had the crowd invested the entire time. They did a decent enough job building Natalya up as a threat going into it. Bayley/Ember Moon, while technically sound, had zero crowd interest. And that is because the WWE did a piss poor job of building it up. And Trish Stratus delivered in her final match inside a WWE ring. Trish didn’t look out of place one bit during the match and looked like she could hang with the stars of today. I was fine with Charlotte winning, but she pretty much turned into Super Charlotte during the last half of the match. But this was a good rebound night for the struggling women’s division.

5. Nothing Will Change With Shane McMahon

Kevin Owens beat Shane McMahon after kicking him low with the ref turned around and delivering a Stone Cold Stunner. That means Kevin Owens doesn’t have to quit. Do you know what else that means? Nothing will change with this storyline when it comes to Smackdown on Tuesday. Shane will come out and protest the match. He will say that Owens should have been DQ’d and he is the rightful winner. I think Shane is sticking around at minimum until the debut on FOX. People will see Shane and possibly tune in, despite fans of today knowing he drags down the product more and more with each appearance. This is going to be a long, drawn out program and I’m dreading it. The good news is Kevin Owens is still over, until the WWE possibly ruins that too.

Other Notes

-Man did the WWE drop the ball tonight with the Network feed. I experienced multiple buffering issues and it looked like I wasn’t the only one. That update may have hurt more than it helped. And I don’t really like the new look anyways.

-Goldberg/Ziggler was exactly what it needed to be then went on five minutes too long.

-I wonder what the plan is for Ricochet. Losing again is fine if they have a strong follow up program for him.

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Keep Calm & Watch Wrestling

The Hot Tag Wrestling Podcast brings you all the latest in the world of pro wrestling. Every week, Justin C, Cam and "The Chairman" Steven Vincent give you their thoughts on everything from WWE, AEW, NXT, New Japan and More! Whether it is the current product or a look back at pro wrestling's past, the Hot Tag Wrestling Podcast brings you the hottest takes in the pro wrestling podcast world!